Leclerc concedes 'doubt' over Ferrari Monza strategy gamble

Charles Leclerc has conceded he did have doubts around Ferrari's one-stop strategy gamble that brought him Italian Grand Prix victory.

Leclerc and Ferrari opted for the contra-strategy at Monza from fourth on the grid with the rest of the leading drivers, including the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who were tasked with hunting Leclerc and Carlos Sainz down in the closing stages.

The McLarens were able to pass Sainz for a double-podium, but Leclerc defeated Piastri by 2.664s for a second win of the season and first for Ferrari at Monza since his 2019 success. 

Leclerc admitted that the one-stop was his preferred choice going into the race, but that Red Bull's struggles after starting on the hard with graining had him worried.

"Before the race, if you would have asked me, the one-stop was definitely the thing I wanted to do," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. 

"After 10 laps, I think we saw that Red Bull started to struggle with the front left on the hard, and there we started to doubt the one-stop. 

"We thought that it would be a lot more difficult because we thought that the hard would be a more difficult tyre to bring to the end. 

"However, as soon as I put it on, I still thought that it was a possibility, especially when Oscar pitted two or three laps after that. 

"I felt like I had more grip not having a car in front, especially on the front tyres, and that's where I really thought that the one-stop, we could make it work."

Monza struggles

Throughout the race, drivers were keen to have clean air in front of them owing to the graining concerns, with Leclerc revealing how he didn't have much to lose by the bold strategy.

"It is just as sweet as the 2019 one, I thought the first one was always going to be more special if there was a second one ever happening, but actually it's not the case. The second one just feels as special," he said.

"I did not expect it going to the race. I thought that we would struggle a bit more compared to the McLaren, but also compared to the Mercedes who seemed to have a really good pace on Friday. 

"However, after a few laps, I saw and I felt the car was in a good place. Oscar maybe was a little bit quicker. It was difficult to see Lando's pace as he was behind. Then once we got undercut, I was like: 'OK, maybe we are losing the win there.'

"But then once both pitted, I actually picked up quite a lot of front grip, having the free air in front.

"I didn't have much to lose by trying the one-stop, but we did a really, really good job with that front left, which has been very, very tricky for everybody.

"We had a lot of front graining but managed to take that front grip again, and that helped us to win today."